Arequipa’s main plaza, unblemished by modern interference’s (save for the ubiquitous honking taxis) is a museum of the city’s sillar architecture – white, muscular and aesthetically unique. Impressive colonnaded balconies line three sides
Founded in 1580 this is the most stunning convent in Peru. Built to shelter a select group of the religious order, it is a small colonial town comprising houses for the nuns and servants, cloisters, plazas and narrow streets lined with bougainvillea’s
The history of the cathedral that dominates Arequipa’s main plaza is filled with doggedness. The original structure, dating from 1656, was gutted by fire in 1844. Consequently rebuilt, it was then promptly flattened by the earthquake of 1868
An extraordinary mestizo baroque mansion, built in 1733 by a Spanish knight and nicely restored with period detail in 1994, Casa del Moral offers one of the best windows onto colonial times in Arequipa
One could argue that Arequipa’s cathedral is just too big. Providing an interesting antidote (and proving that small really can be beautiful) is this diminutive Jesuit church on the southeast corner of the Plaza de Armas
The small Museum of Andean Sanctuaries features a collection of fascinating exhibits, including mummies and artefacts from the Inca Empire, but it is dominated by one tiny girl: Juanita, the Ice Maiden of Ampato
